I’ve seen a lot of chatter online about the Fall Of X and what it means for the Krakoa era of the X-Men line. A lot of those discussions have been pretty doomsaying. A lot of fear that this means the end of the Krakoa era ushered in by Jonathan Hickman in House Of X/Powers Of X that has been ongoing since 2019, which united the Mutants on the living island nation of Krakoa. It revolutionized the franchise and breathed fresh new life into the long stagnating X-Men line.

I’m excited for the Fall Of X. One of my favorite things in comics is being able to put brackets around a run. A run is a consecutively told story usually headed by the same creative team the entire way through. One example of a run is Tini Howard’s Captain Britain comprising Excalibur, X Of Swords, Knights Of X, and Betsy Braddock: Captain Britain. Together these books tell a complete overarching story by a single writer.

The thing about the X-Men line since Hickman soft rebooted it, is the collaborative nature of the office. Storylines ebb and flow from one title to the next. It’s harder to put brackets around individual runs because they all contribute to an overarching narrative. If this is the end of the Krakoan era then I don’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing. Stories have endings, and this has been an exceptionally well told story. If the ending is satisfying, I’m happy to see the whole era tied together with a nice little bow. 

Even then, I don’t necessarily think Krakoa is going away forever. We know the X-Men are off the island and scattered across the globe for the Fall Of X. But for all we know we might be back on Krakoa by the start of next year! However, even if Krakoa is going back into the box for good, the writers who crafted this brilliant era aren’t. I’m sure we’ll continue to see the collaborative storytelling continue long into the X-Men’s future. Even if Krakoa ends, the spirit of this era will live on.